VHS Verve: Alvin & The Chipmunks - The Wall

"Whilst on tour, The Chipmunks heroically try to save a little girl's brother who is stuck on the "other side" of a prominent wall."

Following on from that episode about pet bereavement, we get yet another Chipmunk adventure which goes directly for the viewer's heartstrings and, against every cynical bone in your body and the niggling feeling that, as a grown adult, you really should be above this kind of nonsense, will absolutely succeed in tearing you apart.  The prominent wall mentioned in the VHS synopsis is very obviously the Berlin Wall, although it's never explicitly referred to as such in the episode itself.  "The Wall" first aired on 17th December 1988, and has the Chipmunks traveling to West Berlin to play at a benefit concert in support of world peace; instead, they become involved in the plight of a family who have been physically separated by the wall, only to be captured by the East Berlin authorities, who intend to use them to make a political point of their own.

"The Wall" is one of those specimens of children's entertainment that seems almost a little too bizarre to be true, at least from the synopsis.  Try bringing it up in adult conversation some time -  "Hey, do you remember that episode of Alvin & The Chipmunks where they bring down the Berlin Wall by playing a rock concert beside it?"- and see how much snickering you provoke.  Certainly, there's no denying that the way the thing plays out is cheesy as sin, and yet when I recently popped in the VHS to watch the episode for the purposes of this review, once they'd got around to singing that infernal "Let The Wall Come Down" song I was wiping tears from my eyes.  I simply couldn't help myself.

If the entire notion of the Chipmunks bringing down the Berlin Wall with a concert sounds a tad out there, then keep in mind that rock music has been fondly credited with, if not actually demolishing the wall, then playing a special role in feeding the revolutionary spirit of the East Berliners in its final years.  When David Bowie took his Glass Spider tour to West Berlin on 6th June 1987 as part of the three-day Concert for Berlin, a show held in front of the Reichstag and within the vicinity of the wall, thousands of East Berliners had gathered close to the border to listen in.  "We send our best wishes to all our friends who are on the other side of the wall", said Bowie in German, before launching into "Heroes", a song written while Bowie had been living in West Berlin about two lovers caught up in the divide.  It was a powerful moment which many see as a defining point in characterising the changing tides and increasing anti-wall sentiment - the German Foreign Office responded to Bowie's death on 10th January 2016 with a beautiful tweet thanking him for his role in helping to bring down the wall.  On the third night of the Concert For Berlin, while Genesis were performing on stage, police finally decided to launch a violent crackdown upon the East German gatherers, but the seeds of subversion were by then firmly planted and couldn't be shaken any time soon.  On 19th July 1988, things got particularly heated when Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band played a concert at the Weissensee district in East Berlin to a crowd of some 300,000 East Germans.  The Springsteen concert had been given the go-ahead by the East German authorities and its youth wing, Free German Youth (FGY), in the hopes of appeasing the growing revolutionary tension and improving their standing with the young generation - to Springsteen's horror, they stealthily attempted to label the show as a "Concert for Nicaragua" -  but if anything, it merely whetted that generation's rebellious appetite and yearning for change.  Not wishing to be prodded along by the Communist Regime's efforts to exploit him for their ends, Springsteen addressed his audience, in German, with the stirring message that, "I'm not here for or against any government. I've come to play rock 'n' roll for you in the hope that one day all the barriers will be torn down," before playing Bob Dylan's "Chimes of Freedom."  In fact, it seems a safe bet that the Chipmunks' own visit to East Berlin was conceived as a direct nod to Springsteen's, seeing as how The Boss himself gets multiple shout-outs therein.

So yes, with "The Wall" the Chipmunks were essentially adding their own helium-filled voices to the anti-wall fervor that prominent members of the rock community had been helping to vocalise.  Certainly, the show's producers appear to have recognised the power of music in providing catharsis and expression to such feelings and wished to pay tribute to that, in addition to delivering an anti-wall statement of their own.

The episode opens with Dave announcing to the Chipmunks that they've been invited to play at the annual "Wall of Iron" rock concert.  Alvin is mostly excited at the thought of getting to play alongside so many big names in the music business ("We'll boogie with The Boss, moonwalk with Michael!"), but Dave reminds him that the concert is a serious event held in support of world peace.  We cut to the Chipmunks arriving at West Berlin by plane, as Dave points out the wall and gives them a lowdown on its origins: "The wall was built after a war that divided the country in two.  Once a year this side of the wall has a concert for their friends and family living on the other side, where many freedoms we take for granted are denied."  He tells them that even rock and roll is against the law there, which shocks Alvin.  He questions who would want to live there and is reminded by Simon that the East Berliners don't exactly have a choice.

As Dave helps with the concert preparations, the Chipmunks do some sightseeing around the wall and encounter a girl named Caterina, who's waiting beside the wall to receive a message from her brother, Erik, who lives on the other side.  Caterina explains that Erik got separated from the rest of the family when they defected across the border and was left stranded.  Now, he and Caterina communicate on a daily basis by kicking a football over the wall and attaching pictures and written messages to it.  She receives one such message from Erik, which reads: "I'm okay.  Can you play Boss records tonight?  Miss you, love Erik."  Simon asks Caterina to clarify Erik's Springsteen request, and Caterina explains that Erik is an avid lover of rock music and draws strength from knowing that his family are enjoying his favourite records in his stead.  Caterina has prepared some pictures of her family to send back to Erik, but these consist entirely of  crude stick figure drawings.  "I know it's not very good", she says, mournfully, "but I don't have a camera."  "Well, we do," says Simon.  Huh, I don't know about you, but it sounded to me like Caterina was fishing for reassurance there, and I always thought the chipmunks were kind of dicks for not offering her any.  Anyway, before we know it a whole bunch of snapshots featuring Caterina and the Chipmunks have materialised - all three Chipmunks can be seen in them all, leaving me a bit unclear as to who actually took the pictures.  At this point, Caterina twigs who they are and tells them that Erik is a really big fan of theirs.  She gets them to autograph the football and then kicks it back across the wall to Erik.  Seeing that Caterina is still sad, Alvin vows to bring Erik across safely to the other side, although his brothers suspect that he may already be promising more than he can deliver - for one thing, they don't even know what Erik looks like.  Caterina says that she has a picture of him, although by picture she of course means one of her crude stick figure drawings.  Even Alvin's confidence takes a slight dip at this point.

Alvin's grand plan consists of marching across to East Berlin and demanding that they allow Erik to move freely into West Berlin, believing that his celebrity will give them all the clout that they need.  Getting past the West Berlin border guard proves no problem, as he's too wrapped up in listening to his walkman, but the East Berlin guards are far more attentive.  "Defectors?" one asks.  "We never get anyone defecting to our side."  Alvin explains who they are, only to find themselves seized by the border guards, who declare that the Chipmunks are exactly what they need.  Dave witnesses this and rushes across to the Chipmunks' aid, but is denied entry.  Instead, he valiantly attempts to climb over the wall, but is thwarted by a football which has been kicked over by Erik, carrying another message for Caterina.  Erik has seen the Chipmunks being carried away by the East Berlin authorities and intends to escape across the wall with them during the concert tonight.  Meanwhile, the Chipmunks find themselves confined to a derelict hotel room, with the authorities declaring that they intend to take them to the "rock pile" that evening.  Those authorities appear to be surprisingly slack on security, however, for Erik is able to worm his way into the hotel without incident by disguising himself as a bellhop.  Theodore immediately recognises Erik - apparently Caterina's crude stick figure drawing was more than enough for him to go off - who leads them in a good old-fashioned escape bid by knotting several bed sheets together.

Erik and the Chipmunks slip cautiously through the streets of East Berlin, which are surprisingly deserted - the only other figures seen out and about at all are a couple of authorities, who are discussing what good fortune it is that they were able to get the Chipmunks and how they intend to make an example of them.  Erik gets the Chipmunks to a friend of his, who is a tailor.  He helps to disguise the Chipmunks by decking them out in baggy clothing, and asks them to return the favour by taking a gift to his granddaughter, who lives on the other side of the wall.  In spite of their ingenious disguises, the Chipmunks (and Erik) are recaptured almost immediately upon taking to the streets.  Meanwhile, the Wall of Iron concert is underway and Dave and Caterina are waiting for their respective family members to make it across the wall.  Caterina fears that they will not make it, but Dave seems extraordinarily calm given the circumstances, attributing his confidence to the fact that, "Alvin hasn't missed a spotlight yet."

Back in East Berlin, the apprehensive Chipmunks are being marched toward the "Rock Pile", with the authorities eagerly declaring that they will show their people how they really feel about rock and roll.  "Give him the axe!", orders one, pointing to Alvin.  "No, not the axe!" Alvin screams, trembling at the thought of being hacked to death.  To his surprise, he finds himself being handed a guitar.  Theodore, meanwhile, is given drumsticks and Simon a keyboard.  As it turns out, the East Berlin authorities are as fed up as everyone else with the situation and want to make a statement about rock music and how they don't think that it should be against the law.  Oh, okay, although they might have picked a term for their venue slightly less open to misinterpretation than the "Rock Pile".

With the Wall of Iron concert drawing to a close and still not a peep heard from the Chipmunks, Dave declares that he's going to take another stab at getting his boys back himself, when all of a sudden they hear the sounds of melancholic rock music being played from the other side of the wall.  It's here that we get that "Let The Wall Come Down" song I referenced earlier.  "Heroes" it ain't, but you'd be shocked at just how deeply moving this sequence is nonetheless, with crowds from both sides of the wall gathering in mutual awe at what's taking place.

The lyrics:

"Far from the battlefield, far from war,
We've got to look for an open door,
All of us working, all of us searching for peace,
We dream of a time when we all are one,
Clinging to hope under Earth's bright sun,
So let's get together, things will be better if we try,
Hear our cry!

Some day the pain of war will be healed,
Some day when we can speak what we feel,
Let the wall come down,
Tumble to the ground,
And love will live in peace all around.

So let's raises our voice so they all can hear,
Over the wall they will raise a cheer,
All of us clinging, all of us singing the cry,
We will try!

Some day the pain of war will be healed,
Some day when we can speak what we feel,
Let the wall come down,
Tumble to the ground,
And love will live in peace all around."

The vibrations from the Chipmunks' performance are so powerful, in fact, that cracks begin to appear in the wall - or perhaps this is simply the manifestation of the will of the people, as their yearning to be free and united swells up to the point that the barriers are completely overwhelmed.  As the wall finally crumbles to the ground, we see various characters racing across the shattered barrier and embracing - Erik and Caterina, the tailor and his granddaughter - with Dave making it across just as the Chipmunks finish up their song.  The Sevilles are in the midst of a triumphant embrace when all of sudden the picture begins to waver, we hear ominous chiming music, and - GAAAAH, we find ourselves back aboard the plane, with Alvin, Simon and Theodore snuggled up against their airline pillows, and Alvin continuing to mutter the lyrics to "Let The Wall Come Down" in his half-sleep state.  That's right, the entire thing was nothing more than an airline food-fueled fantasy taking place inside Alvin's head.  Naturally - you didn't really think they would have the Chipmunks do something as ridiculous as bring the Berlin Wall down with a rock concert, did you?  (With that in mind, I suppose we can disregard whatever minor logical nitpicks I raised with this episode.  If it's all a dream, then I guess there's no obligation for it to make airtight sense, magic camera and all.)

At this stage, you might be forgiven for thinking that the episode has gone and played the most irritating cop-out card of all-time, but it actually does have a very powerful piece of symbolism up its sleeve.  Looking out as their plane touches down at West Berlin and seeing the wall still standing, Alvin reflects, wistfully, that "It was only a dream...but it doesn't have to be."  The episode's final image shows Erik and Caterina embracing beside the fallen wall; its closing mood poignant, but also hopeful.

How prophetic Alvin turned out to be.  On 9th November 1989, less than a year after "The Wall" had first aired, the barriers really did come down - although the physical demolition of the wall did not begin until 1990 and the reunification of Germany was not formalised until later on that year, on that historic day in 1989 the East German government announced that its people would be allowed entry into the West and crowds of jubilant East Berliners headed across to celebrate with their neighbours on the other side.  There were, of course, a variety of complex factors leading up to the fall of the Berlin Wall, so in the end it's probably a bit romantic to suggest that it basically came down to Bowie, Springsteen et al galvanising the East Germans by playing a few songs to them - nevertheless, they had a powerful hand in vocalising their hopes and frustrations, speaking not only to those directly affected by the division but also enabling listeners from all over the globe to feel united in their mutual passion for the music, and that barriers could be positively swept over through such a simple human connection.  How lovely that Alvin & The Chipmunks wanted to be a part of that, and to impart that message to an entire generation of children.  Its approach to the subject is naturally pretty simplistic and hackneyed, and yet I cannot overestimate just how choked up I get when the Chipmunks perform their song, and during the episode's closing moments.  They put together quite the little stonker here.

Finally, a small side-note from my personal recollection.  When I caught a re-run of this episode on Children's BBC in the mid-90s, I could swear that they actually cut out Alvin's final line and faded things out with him muttering the lyrics to "Let The Wall Come Down" in his sleep.  Naturally, that ending doesn't have quite the same impact - without Alvin illuminating the symbolism of his dream and transforming it into a message of hope, it becomes little more than the standard "it was all a dream" cop-out.  Maybe the cut was implemented upon the grounds that the Berlin Wall by then already come down and Alvin's closing message might have seemed redundant, but I would find such reasoning to be spurious.  Berlin Wall or no Berlin Wall, Alvin's statement is still stirring on such a universal level, a reminder of the barriers we've erected and overcome throughout human history and that hope and perseverance are some of the most powerful qualities we have as human beings, and to be cherished.  Because god knows what kinds of barriers, literal and figurative, we're going to have to overcome in the future.